Big Brother Comes to iPhone

Lonnie Lazar ()

Retina-X released the unsubtly named Mobile Spy software for iPhone on Wednesday, a product the company says “will reveal the truth for any company or family using Apple smartphones.”

Mobile Spy operates in stealth mode, invisible to the iPhone user, but permits parents or employers who install it to silently monitor incoming and outgoing text messages (SMS) and call information of children or employees – even if activity logs are erased. The software starts when the phone is booted up, records all call and SMS activity and uploads the data in real time to Retina-X servers, which may be accessed from anywhere on the Internet.

The company says it is working on adding spy awareness to email activity in a future release.

Because the software runs in the background, sending and receiving data across the network while other software is in use, Mobile Spy violates Apple’s iPhone SDK, so you won’t find it on the app store, but it is available on the Retina-X website.

Priced at $100 annually, $70 semi-annually or $50 quarterly, it is compatible with iPhone 3G only.

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About the author

Lonnie Lazar

Lonnie Lazar is a writer-musician-web designer-attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie's photos on Flickr.

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Posted in iPhone, News, Software |

  • http://www.iphone-spy-software.com iphone spy

    From now on, iphone is not safe

  • imajoebob

    In the UK this is referred to as a “criminal offence” (or a felony in the States). It violates the Data Protection Act, which protects an individual’s personal information. Even if Retina-X could delete the personal data, just the surreptitious collection is a violation of the Act. An unculled data dump would certainly violate the Act. Since it uses a computer to collect the data it may also be an offence under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990.

    If you use an iPhone in the UK keep an eye out for a “sniffer” to detect Mobile Spy. If you find it file a criminal complaint and legal action against Retina-X. They may not have loaded the software, but they collect, hold, and distribute the data. At the least you’ll cost them millions to sift through their data in the discovery process (which may constitute another offence!).

    I get 10% of anything you win.

    Anybody know if this violates US/Canada statutes?